What if? The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
by justlikeanemptynotebook
Summary: What if someone had stopped the Volturi from ending Bree Tanner's life so abruptly? What if that someone was Bella? And what if, just what if, it all worked out fine in the end? Let's see...


Just a one-shot i wrote after reading Steph. Meyers latest book in the Twilight series, "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella" I decided to tweak the ending of the story just a _little _bit, so here it is.

Note: Yes, I know, Bella and Edward are a little OOC (out of character) in this, but thats ok

ps, there are no spoilers in this, but i still suggest you read the book first anyway,

and now, without further adue (is that how you spell it?) i present to you, 'What If? A 'The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' Novella' ;)

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**Forks, Washington**

"Felix…" Jane drawled, sounding bored, as if killing newborn vampires in Forks was nothing that deviated from her mundane existence in Volterra, Italy.

"Wait…" Edward interjected on the newborn's behalf

And in that instant, when Edward was obviously about to defend the girl, but to no avail as we could all see the irrevocable decision is Jane's eyes, when I saw poor Edward's eyes flinch almost untraceably at the decision in Jane's mind, I knew what I had to do and had no qualms about it.

"Take care of _that_, Felix." she started to say, or nearly started to say, because there was _no _way I was going to let that happen to someone who had _surrendered_. The newborn had basically plead sanctuary with us. Jane never even got past the first word.

"No!" I ripped myself out of Edward's arms and away from his shocked face. He shadowed me as I ran up to Jane.

"Bella, no!" Jasper's voice was hoarse as he felt the determination that I felt. Edward read my emotions off of Jasper and let out a shocked little _whoosh_ of breath.

"_What _did you say?" Jane asked me, enunciating each word slowly.

Everyone held completely still in the way that only vampires can; everyone except for the newborn, Bree, and myself. The Cullen's coven didn't move but were intensely aware of me and all tensed to spring at any moment. All five Volturi members were at a loss. They stood there in their dark cloaks totally and utterly shocked into stillness and silence. Bree held her breath, her face set in a tightly controlled expression. She began edging away from the Volturi, but more so, away from me and the terribly irresistible lure of my blood, at an angle that led her directly toward the Cullen's, directly towards safety.

"I said _no_." I spoke fiercely. I felt like some strange high was racing through my blood and I refused to let it go as I faced one of the most frightful beings currently in existence.

"_No, what?_" she dared me to say more. Jane was a head shorter than me but somehow still managed to exude the aura that she was towering over me. I saw that she was trying to use her sadistic power on me and that she was frustrated by the fact that it didn't work. That gave me strength and I said again.

"No. No, you will _not_ kill her." Jane seemed intensely and increasingly shocked that _I_, a mere human, was standing up to her, where not even Emmet, the largest of the Cullen's, would bat an eyelash at her. I took advantage of her momentary shocked-into-silence state and kept speaking, low and menacingly "Ever since you were created, you've gone around enforcing _your_,totally sadistic, insane and just purely… _evil _brand of law. That ends now, here, today. You will _not _harm Bree in _any _way. At _all_."

Jane's teeth were clenched and she crouched just a little bit. "And, just _who_," she spoke slowly and quietly, her voice shook a very little bit in the middle, but I have bad ears so I could have just imagined it. "_Who_ may I ask, is going to stop me?" It was a challenge, a strangely timed one. It was obvious that she was at a disadvantage here. If the Cullen's _humans_ didn't even fear the Volturi, then what did the seven vicious and strong vampires have to fear from the four Volturi members led by an ill pampered _child_?

All in all it was a stupid move on her part, and I think that everyone in the clearing acknowledged it. Because of that I ignored her comment and continued. "If you make one move to touch her, lay one finger on her, you will _die_." I supposed that that would be threat enough, for a human anyway, but for a vampire, that statement had much more volume.

Bree had now made it up to the point where Edward had followed me. He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her, swinging her behind him and practically throwing her into the waiting arms of his family. He then walked carefully up to where I stood with my back to him, facing Jane.

This is what Jane had wanted and I knew it, but it was too late to warn Edward. I wondered what it was exactly, he thought he was doing. Didn't he know that I would lose any remaining will power I had if Jane burned him right there in front of me? Didn't he know that Jane knew that? Didn't he know that she was about to take advantage of that weakness right now? I hadn't planned for this eventuality. In fact, I hadn't planned at all.

Edward walked up to me and came so close that I could feel his cold breath. He grasped one of my wrists in his hand, ready to drag me away if it came to that, and spoke to Jane.

"Jane, your purpose here was to ensure that the dangerous and untrained newborns were decimated. That purpose was achieved. You have done your job by the Volturi and your own 'conscious'." the way he said that word gave the impression that he didn't really believe she had one of those. "Your services are no longer required here, and we would appreciate it if you didn't draw attention to our permanent residence by hunting down this inconsequential newborn, and thus break the law you came here to enforce. We will control the girl and teach her sufficiently."

"Oh, really? Will you? Just as you've sufficiently turned Bella into one of us?" she spit out my name like it was an expletive. "Edward," she said, and I immediately hated the way she said the most beautiful name in the world. She straightened up from her half-crouch to her full height, and looked Edward in the eye. She was using her power, I just knew it, and I didn't dare turn around for just that reason, but there was no sound from behind and I twisted my hand upward so that I too was gripping Edward's wrist. Suddenly Jane sighed and Edward let out a quick, panting gasp. I felt the urge to whirl around and put my hands on his face, to make sure he was okay, but I held my place firmly, I was shaking, hard. It was like last night in the cold. Except here it was plenty warm with the sun and horribly smoking fire.

"You Cullen's are a strange breed." Jane said, her voice hard, but somehow seeming softer. In surrender? I asked myself tentatively, not letting myself believe that we had won so easily. "We will leave here now, in peace and neither Caius nor Marcus should ever learn of what passed here, but I will not keep it from Aro, and let him think of it what he will and let him tell whomsoever he will. Let _Aro_ be the judge of this."

So that was it. Jane would leave us. Jane would do nothing…yet. She would simply let us keep the problem I had so shortsightedly inherited upon the Cullen's and then she would tell the only person she answered to. She would inform the head of the Volturi with simply the touch of her palm and see what he did.

Jane smirked. For a moment it looked like she might burst into laughter. But she didn't. Her face returned to its usual apathetic composure, as did her voice "Since we've been rendered useless here, I suppose it's high time we headed home. It really was quite a pity that we arrived just a moment too late. Come on, Felix, boys, we need to go back to Volterra, I have a feeling that Aro will be _very_ interested with what happened today." Jane turned away and slowly disappeared from the clearing with her black cloaked entourage. At that point I had finally had enough. I slumped heavily against Edward and looked up at him to see, for the second time in my life, that he was absolutely terrified. The first having been when Jane had attempted to burn me in Volterra. That was definitely too much for me. I collapsed in a dead faint against his chest and didn't wake up for a very long time.

However, when I did, everyone was in a _much _better mood, including Bree. The Cullen's had, as promised, explained the rules of the vampiric world to her and she had decided that she would leave us and meet up with an old acquaintance by the name of Fred. She promised to visit in a few years, but first she wanted to learn what the Volturi had decided to do about her. Her eyes were tinted with gold and she sat in between Emmet and Jasper who kept their eyes on her. No one really trusted her yet, but they had taken her hunting with them and the animal blood had quenched her thirst enough that she could sit in the same room as me. We were all in the Cullen's living room, listening as Edward and Alice reiterated a vision that Alice had recently had.

**Volterra, Italy**

Jane and Aro are standing alone in a small, warm office type room. Jane is reaching out toward Aro, hand outstretched, palm turned upward, face smug. Aro seems delighted by her presence.

"Ah, Jane, you've returned."

"Yes, finally, there was a… holdup at the airport."

"Oh, I did here about that, _someone _ate the pilot. You're getting a little naughty in public aren't you Jane? Be careful or I might have to send Demetri after you."

"Well, Aro, that should be interesting to see. Anyway, I've brought some news."

Jane stretches her hand out a little more pointedly towards Aro.

"Ha ha, a bit eager aren't we, young one?" he touches her hand and for a moment is completely consumed by what he learns from her. The room is completely silent, Jane smirks slightly.

And then, suddenly the silence is broken by Aro's loud, clear, jovial _laughter_. Jane looks up at him shocked as if she doubts his sanity. He laughs harder upon seeing Jane's expression and she looks at him blackly, severely wishing that _he _wasn't the one person she had to abstain from using her gift with. As Aro laughter calms, Jane's irritable mood ebbs and is replaced by a vindictively hopeful one. Her moment of truth has arrived.

"When do we leave?" she asks hopefully.

"Leave for what, dear one?"

"Leave for Forks, Aro, where else? We have to go destroy the Cullen coven, and _now _is the perfect time. They've wronged us by disobeying the law and embarrassed us one too many times already. If we go now with enough of the guard we can wipe them all out and their foul little human in one fell swoop…" Jane's voices fades out and drifts to utter silence as Aro begins to laugh again.

"We aren't going _any_where, young Jane. You allowed the Cullen's to keep their little inherited problem and now I'm going to stick with _your _better judgment. Besides, I absolutely _adore _that Bella, she's _quite _the character, don't you agree? I really can_not_ wait to see how immortality suits her, a human like that should have powers that surpass ever your own, Jane, don't you agree?" Aro laughed mirthfully once more.

Jane glared at him absolutely ready to unleash a full blast of her power, but Aro stood up, shuffled some papers and left the room swiftly, leaving Jane to stand there, seething. And to think, their little mind reader, the only person that Jane hated more that Bella, more than she hated Aro right now, to think that Alice, the little psychic, would have seen all that passed even before it did, well that was definitely too much. Jane throws her little head back and screams the terribly frightening scream of a toddler who has been denied their ice cream _and _their nap.

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So! What'd yall think? I would really love some feedback on this story, and by the way, you guys should _really _read the book if you havent already

Reviews are greatly appreciated, thanks :)


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